Shuffle feeder capable of single file advancement of articles

ABSTRACT

A shuffle feed apparatus provided with aligned wedge-shaped members fixed in rows on the shuffle feed flights so as to advance articles in rows and at a predetermined rate.

United States Patent Green 1 1 Dec. 2, 1975 [5 1 SHUFFLE FEEDER CAPABLEOF SINGLE 1.992.331 2/1935 Smith 198/219 FILE ADVANCEMENT OF ARTICLES2.728.443 12/1955 Pike. .11. 01211 198/31) 2.792.929 5/1957 Mugnuson et:11. 198/218 Inventor: Chester Green, Sun Jose. Callf- 3.291.173 12/1966Smith c1111 198/219 3.509.988 5/1970 Smith 198/219 [73] Ass1gnees.Genevleve I. Hanscom, Genevieve 3547249 2/1970 Aguilar ct L 198/2) XHanscom Robe" Magnum & L015 3.561.582 2/1971 Smith 198/219 x Thomson,Trustees of Roy 3.605.983 9/1971 Oldershaw 198/30 Magnuson Estate, allof San Jose, 3.651.925 3/1972 Green 198 218 Calif., apart interest toeach 3.661.240 5 1972 Baumann 198/219 x [22] Filed: June 10, 1974 [21]Appl. No.: 478,034

{52] 11.5. C1 198/30; 198/219 [51] Int. Cl. B656 25/04 [58] Field ofSearch 198/30, 218, 219

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.760369 5/1930 Moe 198/218Primary Examiner-Richard A. Schacher Assistant ExaminerRichard K.Thomson Attorney. Agent, or FirmGera1d L. Moore ABSTRACT A shuffle feedapparatus provided with aligned wedgeshaped members fixed in rows on theshuffle feed termined rate.

flights so as to advance articles in rows and at a prede- 1 Claim, 6Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,923,143

FIG.2

US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,923,143

FIG. 3 35B 35C 'type disclosed in US. Pat. 2,792,929 issued May '1 VSHUFFLE FEEDER CAPABLE OF SINGLE-FILE ADVANCEMENT OF ARTICLES CROSSREFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This shuffle-feedmechanism relatesgenerally to the 21, 1957 and entitled Shuffle Feed Structure.

It also can be used with a shuffle feed mechanism of the type describedin US. Pat. 3,509,988 issued May 5, 1970 and entitled ShuffleFeedMechanism.

. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present inventionrelates to shufflefeed structures for feeding articles such as fruits and vegetables(produce) in a manner-to be aligned in single file order for subsequentprocessing. In the shuffle feed mechanism such as that disclosed-in U.SfPat. 2,792,929 referenced above, the articles are advanced forwardinrows and usually dropped into a carrier such as a V-belt conveyorwhichruns normal tothe direction of progress through the shuffle feeder.In such apparatus, however, there is not a close control over the rateor .spacing of the articles being advanced. I v

However, in some instances it is desirable to move the articles insingle file order in a forward direction at a predetermined rate forfeeding separate lines adapted toreceive the articles. In suchranapparatus, the articles can be advanced in a shuffle feed mechanism ofthe type disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,988, referenced .above. Theadvancing faces of the flights are cut away or beveled for aligning theproduce in rows as well as for other purposessuch as breaking up peachhalves which cling together, etc.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a shuffle feedmechanism capable of feeding articles in rows at a predetermined rate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A shuffle feed mechanism for articlescomprising first and second sets of elongated shuffle feed membersalternately spaced in parallel side-by-side order whereby with relativereciprocating motion there is provided a valley-to-valley progressingaction for articles along the front faces of the members, andwedge-shaped members fixed to the front faces and aligned in spacedapart rows extending in the direction of the progressive action of thearticles to prevent the advancement of articles aligned therewiththereby causing the articles to be advanced in rows extending betweenthe wedge-shaped members and at a predetermined rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation viewshowing one type of shuffle feed mechanism in which the invention can beemployed;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the shuffle feed mechanism of FIG. 1advancing articles thereon;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views taken in the planeindicated by the line 3-3 in FIG. 2 and illustrating the operatingrelationship of the shuffle feed members and articles resting thereon;and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary views similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 along theline 5-5 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, the shuffle feedstructure shown comprises similar movablesets of upper shuffle members13 andlower shuffle members 14 which are generally rectangular inconfiguration and are mounted in inclined position having long upwardlyfacing articlesupporting sides 13A and 14A and relatively narrowupwardly and forward facing article feeding and sup-' porting faces13B'and 14B. These elongated shuffle feed members are positioned inparallel alternating relationship such that by relative reciprocatingmotion there" is provided a valley-to-valley progressive action forarticles resting upon the sides and front faces.

To provide the reciprocating motion'the shuffle feed members 13 extendbetween and are secured to a spaced pair of upper frame members 15 fixedto a support frame 16 by a'pair of parallel links 17. The other shufflefeed members '14 are fixed to'a pair of lower frame members 18'supported by a pair of parallel lengths 19 i I The means fondriving thesets of shuffle feed members for reciprocating motion in oppositedirections comprises a motor driven traverseshaft 20 suitably journaledon the support frame and carrying respective pairs of eccentrics 21 and22 with respective eccentric followers connected by the links 24 and 25with the frame members 15 and 18 for driving thesets of shuffle members13 and 14, respectively. Thus the shuffle members move inoppositedirections simultaneously to effect the feeding motion for articlessupplied to the lower end of the apparatus. The traverse shaft 20 isdriven by a belt 26 extending from a transmission 27 driven by a motor28. I r s i At the upper end (or to the right of the drawing in F IG.Dislocated the shuffle feed flights 29 havingrecessed or scalloped frontfaces so as to advance the articles in pockets formed'by the scallopsflnthis manner the articles can be moved forward at a rate determined bythe speed of operation of the shuffle feed apparatus but also inparallel rows for subsequent processing.

However, experience has shown that the scalloped faces of the shufflefeed mechanism do not always separate the articles sufficiently insingle file order as they are fed onto the shuffle mechanism such as bybeing passed through the bin 30 at the lower end of the apparatus.Because the articles tend to bunch up at the bottom of the chute theyalso collect within the scallops such that more than one article may befed forward such that more than one article may be fed forward throughthe series of pockets. However, it is still advantageous in certainapplications to use the scalloped shuffle feed mechanism for theseparation of the individual articles of the type which tend to cling orstick together such as peach halves, etc. But to assure that thearticles are fed in single file order at a predetermined rate, thesubject invention was devised which receives the articles from theloading chute 30 and transports them in single file order to thescalloped shuffle feed mechanism 29.

In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for feedingthe articles in single file order from the bin 30 to the flights 29comprising a plurality of aligned wedge-shaped members 31 and 32 fixed,respectively, in spaced parallel rows to the front faces 13B and 14B ofthe flights l3 and 14. Each member 31 and 32 comprises an elongatedbottom plate 33 which extends the bottom face of the flight itself witha downward inclining top face 34 extending from the juncture of thefront face of the flight and the top surface of the flight. The frontportion is slightly rounded to prevent injury to the articles beingtransported and the opposite ends of the top and bottom faces are buttwelded or otherwise fixed to the forward faces of the supporting flight.Thus the wedge-shaped members are aligned in rows as shown in FIG. 2 toform therebetween paths along which the articles can normally beadvanced at the predetermined rate determined by the rate ofreciprocation of the flights.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 through the articles 35 are shown as ballsrepresenting such produce as potatoes, tomatoes, etc. The ball 358 hasdropped from the bin 30 to rest against the front face of flights 13Aand 14A as shown. With the actuation of the mechanism the flight 14Awill proceed in the downward direction as shown in FIG. 4 and the flight13A will be moved forward and upward. Normally the flight 13 will movethe article into alignment with the next adjoining flight 14B. However,because of the wedge faced members on the flight 13A, the ball 35A willmerely roll backward across the top face as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 anddown across the flight 13A to the bottom of the apparatus. However, theball 358 in being positioned between the wedge members is moved forwardin the normal manner as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Similarly the ball 35Cis moved forward up one of the paths meant to guide the articles intoalignment with the receiving shuffle feed apparatus 29.

Thus, it can be seen that there is provided a shuffle feed mechanismwhich can be adjusted to feed articles at a predetermined rate and alongany number of paths spaced across the width of the mechanism.

While the invention has been described in connection with specificembodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of furthermodification, and

this application is intended to cover any variations, uses oradaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles ofthe invention and including such departures from the present disclosureas come within known or customary practice in the art to which theinvention pertains and as may be applied to the essential featureshereinbefore set forth, and as fall within the scope of the inventionand the limits of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A shuffle feed mechanism for articles, said mechanism comprising:

a first set of elongated shuffle feed members having front faces andbeing positioned in spaced parallel relationship;

a second set of elongated shuffle feed members having front faces andbeing positioned one between each adjacent pair of the first members toprovide successive valleys formed by the front faces thereof;

means for supporting each of said sets for relative reciprocating motionin parallel relationship thereby to provide a valley-to-valleyadvancement for articles resting along the front faces of the feedmembers; and

wedge-shaped members fixed to the member front faces and with anelongated pointed edge extending parallel to the front faces to preventthe progression of articles aligned with the wedge-shaped members, saidwedge-shaped members being positioned in spaced rows whereby thearticles will progress along spaced paths between the wedgeshapedmembers.

1. A shuffle feed mechanism for articles, said mechanism comprising: afirst set of elongated shuffle feed members having front faces and beingpositioned in spaced parallel relationship; a second set of elongatedshuffle feed members having front faces and being positioned one betweeneach adjacent pair of the first members to provide successive valleysformed by the front faces thereof; means for supporting each of saidsets for relative reciprocating motion in parallel relationship therebyto provide a valley-to-valley advancement for articles resting along thefront faces of the feed members; and wedge-shaped members fixed to themember front faces and with an elongated pointed edge extending parallelto the front faces to prevent the progression of articles aligned withthe wedgeshaped members, said wedge-shaped members being positioned inspaced rows whereby the articles will progress along spaced pathsbetween the wedge-shaped members.